GALLAGHER: Immigration pushes former Marine to voting booth for first time

This Iraq war veteran voted for the first time, because of one word: deportation. His wife could be deported at any time.    - - Donna Poisl

by TIM GALLAGHER

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa | Not much rattles Apolonio Topete, who, at age 20, fought as a U.S. Marine in the world's most dangerous place, Fallujah, Iraq.

That was 2004, the second of Topete's three tours of duty in Iraq.

But mention immigration, and Topete stirs. It's a scary subject in his house, the issue that prompted him to vote on Tuesday in his first presidential election.

Like more than 70 percent of his fellow Latinos, Topete voted for Barack Obama, based on Obama's push to grant work permits to immigrants brought here illegally as children.

"It was something," Topete says. "We are hoping for more."
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